


Jealous Heart, Broken Hearts

by CobraOnTheCob



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: ALSO MY WRITING IS HORRIBLE AT THIS TIME, ANTI SEASON 3 AANG, And I was inspired by Clearsight who could see all the futures and I thought about when, Anti Kataang, BURRRRRRRRRN, BUT his portrayal in Season 3 and LoK makes me tearbend, Darkstalker destroyed their future and thus that future blinked out, Disclaimer: Aang is a good cinnamon roll, Don't like my writing? Click that little x or just swipe up the page and forget you read this, EDIT BECAUSE SOME OF CAN'T HANDLE MY SALT, F/M, Half of these are mentions, He's fanmade, I don't know if the spirit can be put in the character tag but I'm tagging it here, I was inspired by another fic and I thought of Wings of Fire and animus dragons and future seers, I'M SORRY TO POST IN THE KATAANG TAG BUT I HAD TO WARN MY ZUTARIANS, IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THAT I'M SORRY, LISTEN I DO NOT LIKE KATAANG, Love vs Attachment, Oh hey I debut my Steambabies here and they don't actually make an appearance, So this is technically an angry fic about how I disliked LoK and ATLA season 3, Spirits like to roast mortals, This could be best summed up as an angry fic, but at least i have grammar right?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-20
Updated: 2018-07-20
Packaged: 2019-06-13 17:00:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15369162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CobraOnTheCob/pseuds/CobraOnTheCob
Summary: The girl of Aang's dreams drifts to the fire and he doesn't like it.





	Jealous Heart, Broken Hearts

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by NephthysMoon's fic, In Red and Gold (link: HOW DO I LINK ON AO3)!
> 
> I have a ton of sad Zutara stuff and I'm sorry but I swear that I'll keep my sad Zutara stories to one-shots. 
> 
> Enjoy my clunky writing style
> 
> Alternatively titled: Aang is Jealous and This is Why LoK Is Like This

Aang paced around in front of the door he knew that would open to the room to the soon-to-be-Fire-Lord and Katara, who was healing said man. Toph was out looking for Space Sword and Sokka's boomerang, while Sokka and Suki were cuddling in another room. No one would dare question him.

Well, except for Uncle Iroh. Iroh, however, was making plans to return to Ba Sing Se and stay at the Jasmine Dragon, and would come to see his nephew once his nephew was coronated Fire Lord.

And if Aang wasn't careful, in a few years, Katara, his Katara, would fling herself into Zuko's arms and be Fire Lady.

He wouldn't let that happen.

<>-<>-<>-<>

He quietly stole into her room and held the necklace, meditating his way into the Spirit World. He opened his eyes and looked around.

"Hello? Any 'love spirit' out here?" Aang asked as respectfully as he could. The mist gathered as he ran along, searching. He ran to where he figured the Moon and Sun Spirit might be, drawing on the old legends of the celestial bodies watching over the people and giving them the red strings that tied soul mates together. Only these spirits could see the red strings, and Aang was sure he and Katara had that red string. He approached, and saw Yue.

"Hello Aang. You're here to ask for how to win over Katara's heart, aren't you?" the Moon Spirit asked, smiling.

"Uh...yeah, of course you knew I was coming here. So...do I have a red string for Katara or no?" Aang asked. Yue's smile fell.

"Unfortunately no, Avatar. She is not your soulmate. She never was, and she would never be. You weren't meant to be frozen, and that's been a mess, but..."

"But what, Yue? What is it? Zuko's her soulmate, isn't it?" Aang snapped. Yue looked at the young boy with sadness.

"Do not let jealousy consume you. There will be other loves." Yue tried to persuade him. 

"None like her! And Zuko would be a horrible companion to her! He'd corrupt her, make her dark, like he did when she looked for her mother's killer!" Aang exploded. Yue's normally gentle face contorted into anger.

"Would you listen to her when she needed closure? Were you ever there for her? You idolize her, she idolizes you, it'd never work out." The Moon Spirit was trying to be as gentle as she could, but she knew that even the Avatar needed more than a gentle nudge to understand things.

"Yes, it would! She needs my light, she needs it! Please, can't you do something to get her to fall for me?!" Aang pleaded.

"No. Love is a force not to be trifled with. Let her go, this is an unhealthy attachment that is preventing you from being a completely powerful Avatar." Yue tried to explain. 

"If you won't help me get her to love me, I'll find someone else," Aang snapped. He ran off, and Yue sighed.

"I'm so sorry Katara. This can only end badly..."

<>-<>-<>-<>

Zuko would need a week to heal, and three days to recover, according to Katara's analysis. More than enough time to meditate.

It took three days before he found a willing spirit that would help him in his endeavor. Fu Jian, was his name. The two walked over to Katara's room, and Fu Jian picked up the necklace.

"This is what you want me to..." Fu Jian studied the carving.

"Yes."

"It will be done. She will love you like you do, reflect your views and values, and most of all, forget Zuko as a love interest. She will be as you wish her to be." Fu Jian said, and the necklace glowed as he spoke.

"Thank you, Fu Jian," Aang said. Katara would be safe from Zuko and his darkness. Her light would be pure, untainted.

"There is one thing. You should know what the consequence of this will be. What life you have taken." Fu Jian said, setting the necklace down and turned to Aang.

"What consequence?"

"You shall see," Fu Jian laughed, then touched Aang's forehead.

_Aang found himself in the halls of the Fire Lord's palace, though less ornate, but the red remained. A few people were standing around, some frozen in ice, others on the floor in pain. In the middle of it all, a boy with skin a bit lighter than Katara's was crouching over a boy a little older than him, but with the same skin tone. Siblings. The older boy was bleeding badly, but the other boy suddenly moved his hand and the blood was moving back into the older one's body. Aang turned his head, unwilling to see someone bloodbend._

__

_Next thing he knew, he saw flashes of a happy life, of Katara and Sokka going to the Southern Water Tribe to help rebuild, then a few years later, Zuko and Katara go and find Zuko's mother...Aang closed his eyes as soon as those flashes began. He didn't want to see anymore..._

__

__

He gasped as Fu Jian removed his hand from his forehead, the images crumbling away.

"And that was only a part of the consequence."

<>-<>-<>-<>

No matter what Aang did from that point on, everything seemed to go wrong. His first child was a nonbender, and his second was a waterbender. The spirits granted him and Katara a third child, and thankfully he was an airbender. Aang made sure to preserve his culture through Tenzin, and did all he could for his airbending child. Katara...was Katara. Faithful, sticking by him, and taking on the role of one of the greatest healers.

Unfortunately, the energy he used in the iceberg was catching up to him and cut his life short.

<>-<>-<>-<>

Katara didn't know what was going on when Zuko of all people had landed in the south.

"Zuko! What brings you here to the South?" She asked her former friend.

"You know that Toph had just passed away a few months ago, and we're the last two members of Team Avatar left," Zuko rumbled, affectionately patting Druk.

"I suppose..."

"But where have you been? You weren't at Yakone's bloodbending trial -"

"Neither were you!"

"You were the second bloodbender and the one who banned its usage! You should've been there, you could've kept him down! If it wasn't for Aang going into the Avatar State and removing Yakone's bending, he would've continued terrorizing Republic City! You've done absolutely nothing except for banning a bending art and being Aang's trophy wife!" 

"What do you mean, done nothing and be a trophy wife?! I brought the airbenders back, I -"

"Generations from now, in the history books, people will read about how Avatar Aang, Water Tribe Councilman Sokka, Toph, the first Metalbender, and Fire Lord and Peacebringer Zuko ended the 100 Year War and founded Republic City. You'd barely be a footnote in the history book, maybe mentioned as the wife of Avatar Aang at most, who bore Tenzin who then had a line of airbenders and then the Harmonic Convergence happened and the one who banned a bending art!" Zuko exploded.

"Do I care about my portrayal in the history books?!" Katara asked, but her eyes were downcast.

"What happened to you? What happened to the waterbender who uprooted the North's sexist view on women waterbenders, what happened to the waterbender who beat Azula, who, at the time, was hopped up on Sozin's comet and insanity? What happened to the fierce warrior that I fell for, the one who could forgive her mother's murderer? What happened?!" The former Fire Lord began to pace.

"I don't know what you're talking about. The war was over, there was no one to fight, so I turned to healing. The only time I needed to fight was if Aang or Sokka was in danger." Katara replied. Zuko turned, staring in shock. Having traveled around the world and getting older, he was a lot more attuned to spiritual happenings and as he glanced at Katara, he knew something was off. He knew that this version of Katara didn't happen overnight, just changed slightly, daily, until she kissed Aang and became a completely different person. No one thought of it as strange, because to them, she was still Katara, but to Zuko, the one thing that really stood out to him was the lack of her voice in anything anymore.

"How about the civil war? Where were you?" Zuko demanded.

"Healing!"

"You? Healing? The Katara I knew would've fought like a pack of wolves if the Southern Watern Tribe's autonomy was threatened! I heard that you just ran off to the nearest healing hut and waited for the first round of injured! And don't blame an ailing body part, even if you couldn't physically fight, you would've given rallying speeches! But I heard no one talking about a rallying speech from you." Zuko growled. Katara blinked, but said nothing.

"If your mother was here she'd be disappointed in knowing what you have become," Zuko tried. Normally this would cause Katara to slap him, either physically or with water, but Katara continued to say nothing. She didn't even touch her necklace as he mentioned her mother. 

The necklace...

Indeed, there was the source of the spiritual trouble. Katara's necklace was definitely touched by a spirit, and Zuko needed to remove it.

"Can I see your necklace?" Zuko asked. Katara's eyes widened and was alight with a fury that threw him back to the days when they were fourteen and sixteen.

"No! I'm not taking it off, this is the last relic of my mother and of Aang!" Katara exploded for the first time since Zuko got here. Zuko knew he had to take drastic measures.

"I'm sorry, forgive me," Zuko murmured, then lunged forward and took the necklace off Katara. She let out a cry as he pulled the relic away.

"What in the name of Tui and La was that for?!" Katara shrieked, lunging for it. Zuko moved, and held back his old friend.

"Druk!" Zuko called, scrambling out of the tent. The dragon looked at him.

"Zuko give that back!" Katara shrieked.

"In a week, I will! Druk, take this and fly around with it for a week but don't destroy it! Go and fly around the world, that should be enough time!" Zuko said, tying the necklace around a spike. Druk nodded, then took off. Katara suddenly cried out and collapsed, but Zuko, even in his old age, still had his speed and reflexes with him as he dove forward and kept Katara from hitting her head.

<>-<>-<>-<>

Katara slept, and in her dreams, she saw what might've been if Aang never interfered.

Fierce but diplomatic firebending Takara, who fought with the grace of a waterbender, became the Fire Lady after Zuko stepped down, while her younger twin sisters, Kya and Kama, became the Fire Nation's ambassadors to the Water Tribe and Earth Kingdom, respectively. Kya was a powerful waterbender with the ferocity of a batallion of komodo rhinos, even when she lost sight in both eyes. Kama became a weapons master and eventually settled on Kyoshi Island. Kai was born six months after she had fought an Agni Kai, and many believed that because his mother fought an Agni Kai while three months pregnant, he would be a powerful bender, and by the celestial bodies, they were right. Pakoda was the final child, a kind-hearted and diplomatic but shy waterbender, who healed and used bloodbending in a way Katara would've never thought of. They were strong warriors and peacekeepers, they were the next generation to keep the world in balance.

Takara, Kya, Kama, Kai, and Pakoda, the five children that she and Zuko would never have, their faces so clear yet so distant, and they faded away as they were replaced by Bumi, Kya, and Tenzin, and the tumultuous life they had. Of course she loved Bumi, Kya, and Tenzin, but her path as Fire Lady resulted in the five children having good memories of the Fire Lord, and all her friends and herself would've made the world better, instead of the state it was now.

Or would it?

Katara would never know.

No one would.

Katara wept.

And she woke.

Zuko and Kya were sitting at the edge of the bed.

"Mother, it's been a week. Are you alright?" Kya asked. Katara stared bleerily at her daughter.

"No. I'm so sorry Kya, for everything." Katara said, looking at her daughter's face, so different from the one that was fathered by Zuko. This Kya had no scars on her face and her eyes blue-grey instead of a faded blue.

"Zuko told me everything," Kya said.

"Kya I -" Katara stammered.

"I know you love us, Mom," Kya murmured, gently hugging Katara.

"Where's Korra?" Katara asked, breaking away from Kya's embrace.

"She's here, she heard about what happened." Zuko said.

"Go get her. And Aang should count himself lucky that the connection between Korra and her past lives is lost, otherwise I'd - " Zuko raised a brow at Katara, but he left the hut.

<>-<>-<>-<>

Korra pointed Zuko and Katara to the nearest spirit portal, and from there, the two navigated their way into the Spirit World. Once in, Katara took off like a shot.

"Katara wait!" Zuko yelped, shocked.

"AANG WHERE ARE YOU?!" Katara shrieked. Zuko saw movement out of the corner of his eye and whirled around, and saw Aang step out.

"Katara," Zuko said, "He's here." Katara ran back and glared at Aang with the force of a tsunami.

"Aang. What. Have. You. Done." Katara snapped at her deceased husband. Zuko was very glad that bending was disabled in the Spirit World, otherwise Aang probably would've been shredded by now.

"It was to save you from Zuko's darkness!" Aang tried to defend himself, but then a new voice spoke.

"So this wasn't supposed to happen...but I'll spill anyways," a spirit purred. Aang blanched.

"Fu Jian, please, don't - !" Aang stuttered, but Fu Jian shook his head and smiled.

"Avatar Aang came up to me, asking me to enchant your necklace," Fu Jian said, pointing to Katara, "It was rather clever, no one would suspect it, and if Aang tried to give you a present, it would've been seen as suspicious." 

"And what exactly was the enchantment?" Zuko asked. Fu Jian laughed.

"It was simple, I will quote it: 'I enchant this necklace so that the wearer will slowly fall in love with Avatar Aang, lose any romantic feeling for Zuko, have only eyes for Aang, reflect the views of Avatar Aang, love him like he does for her, and mainly fight to protect Sokka and Aang.' Now this is all that was going through me as I said those words to you, Avatar. Just as you wanted, but there was a catch." 

"What catch?" Katara asked.

"The minute you took off the necklace you would regain any sense of yourself, so I had to make sure that you would never take off the necklace under any circumstance," the spirit said. 

"So that's why Katara was so stubborn in taking off the necklace," Zuko muttered.

"World class detective," Fu Jian said, "Now, I give you all a gift, on what would've been if Aang decided to truly let go of Katara?" He laughed and lunged, touching the three benders' foreheads. All three gasped as a vision surged through them.

_Sokka and Katara went to the South Pole to rebuild, which took years, while Aang and Toph traveled around the world, especially in the colonies. 5 years passed and the Gaang had agreed to reunite in the Fire Nation, for the world was more stable and could handle Team Avatar taking a break. Sokka and Suki were still going strong, and Aang was still smitten with Katara, who was fending off marriage proposals with water whips and ice picks, because by Tui and La, she was still helping rebuild the world! The same thing was going on with Zuko, Mai decided that the Fire Nation nobility life wasn't for her and peacefully broke off the relationship and became a bounty hunter, which caused the Fire Sages to shove a bunch of girls in Zuko's direction. Aang tried to pursue Katara, but Katara pushed aside the romance, as the world still needed to be rebuilt. They return to their respective lands, to continue rebuilding, but Katara becomes the Water Tribe ambassador in that time, and when the New Ozai Society makes another attempt on Zuko's life, Katara realizes how much he truly means to her...and he is the same way. The marriage between Katara and Zuko strengthens the bond between the Southern Water Tribe and Fire Nation, and the other nations are impressed with how willing the Fire Nation was to repay its debts to the world. Aang finds a true love, and other airbenders. This path lead to a world better than this one...a path where Aang truly discovered what it meant to have the Avatar's power flow through him, a path where the world does not need to fear bloodbending, a path where Yakone and Amon were defeated early on..._

____

____

They all gasped as Fu Jian removed his touch from their foreheads with a smirk.

"And now you know the consequence of interfering with love."

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry if I have torn out your heart.
> 
> I'm going to have to gush right now: I ABSOLUTELY LOVE the Zutara fandom when it comes to the Steam kids, because we all agree that there is at least one child named after Kya (proven in canon but even w/o canon we probably still would've written it) and like, the world could have been a lot better and NOT a mess like it was in LoK if Zutara happened.
> 
> As mentioned in the tags, the Zutara kids mentioned in the story are the Steam babies I headcanon Zuko and Katara had, and I know there's like,,,five kids (while every other Zutara shipper has three Steam kids) but we KNOW that Katara loves kids and well funny story was there were originally three that I came up with (Takara, Kya, and Kai) but then I realized I needed to balance out the firebender to waterbender ratio so Pakoda was created, but then I realized there needed to be a nonbender but I love all of their names and I couldn't bear to get rid of them so I created Kama as the nonbending child.
> 
> I'm not going to flesh them out right now because this isn't the time or the place, but I just wanted to park my Steam Kids thoughts somewhere.
> 
> Also, Fu Jian means attachment in Mandarin Chinese. It's probably not the right version of attachment but I wasn't going to type in a long phrase because Google translate loses its accuracy after a few words.
> 
> Also, trying to figure out html format is annoying and I gave up.
> 
> italics man


End file.
